Seasons
by Synoir
Summary: Four seasons of Love. Hermione is in search of her cat in the dead of winter. Sirius Black thinks she is crazy. - Muggle AU Sirimione [2nd Place - Best Novella in the Mischief Managed Awards 2017] [COMPLETE]
1. WINTER

**Hello & ****Merry Christmas!**

 **Welcome to the newly edited version of "Seasons", as of December 2017.**

 **It has been exactly a year to date when it was first published, and what better time to update it to be read better and more fluently? There are no real changes, only more articulate sentences and hopefully fewer errors.**

 **Warnings: Coarse Language; Age Difference (although they meet when they are both in perfectly legal ages).**

* * *

WINTER

"Crookshanks!"

Sirius heard a woman call outside. It sounded worried, _panicked_ even. He went to look out the window. Sure enough, a young woman with hair that was cascading out the wool beanie in crazy curls and her mouth sticking out of a huge red scarf was out there. Her shoulders and top of her hair were covered in snow.

"Crooksie!"

She sounded desperate.

Sirius let the curtains close in, grabbed his coat, put his feet into his black boots and opened the door.

"Hey! What are you doing? It's freezing out there!" he shouted to get her attention.

His cat meowed just then and the woman looked at him.

"Crookshanks?" she shouted again before her deep brown eyes met Sirius. "My cat. He is missing... _again_. Did you see him? He is big, fluffy, orange and-"

Sirius' eyebrows rose.

"Well, the only cat I know that sounds like what you describe is my Reggie," he said. He still wanted to reassure the poor thing, though. "I'm sure he found somewhere warm, your cat. They are smart creatures."

She looked near tears. "It's cold and it's snowing, and..." She sniffed, her nose that turned red because of the cold wrinkled and her eyebrows were furrowed with worry. Sirius felt his heart tug. Just as he was about to offer her his help to look for the cat he heard Reggie's loud call again and his cat bumped his head to Sirius' boots.

That was when the woman shouted. "Crookshanks!"

She darted towards Sirius picking his cat up.

"Uh, lady, that's not your cat!"

She looked at him, her hands full of orange fluff, her eyes no longer worried but instead angry. She looked glorious.

"I believe I would know my own cat, sir!" She said, raising her nose and squaring her shoulders in defiance. She turned towards his Regulus. "It's going to be alright Crooksie, I got you now..." she mumbled in a soothing voice. Sirius felt a little annoyed, what was wrong with this woman?

"Uh- no," Sirius said. "That's my cat. And his name is Regulus. Definitely not Crookshanks. What kind of a name _is_ Crookshanks anyway?"

The woman looked at him like she was getting ready to spit fire.

"What kind of a person kidnaps other people's pets?" she accused him in an angry voice.

"Kidnap? How can I kidnap my own cat?" Sirius took a step towards the woman. "Give him back to me. I understand you are scared but look at him. He is obviously not your cat, he can't be can he? He is mine!"

He was getting a little worried. What if this woman took Regulus? He couldn't actually attack a woman, could he? And the bloody cat looked like he was happy where he was, purring like there was no argument or a snowstorm around him.

The curly haired harpy took a step back.

"Stay away!" she said. "I warn you, I know self-defence!"

"Good for you! Give my cat back you crazy bint!"

"How dare you!"

Regulus jumped just as Sirius attempted to take him from the woman's hands and swiftly ran inside.

"See," Sirius said triumphantly. "He knows where he lives!"

"But, but he is... He is my Crookshanks. I swear he is!" she said, sounding sad for a second before the indignant stance was back. "He just ran inside because it's cold!"

Sirius sighed, he felt bad for the woman, he really did. But he loved Regulus and he had an inkling that this woman was a little on the crazy side.

"Look, it's freezing. And the cat stays. But if you want to get warm, you can come inside," he said turning towards his home. "I'm not standing out in the cold one more minute to discuss this ridiculousness."

The girl bit her lip, clearly considering what should she do. Sirius waited for few seconds and raised his left eyebrow, making it clear that he wanted her to decide quickly.

"Alright. I'll come, but just for Crooksie."

"For God's Sake _woman,_ his name is _Regulus_."

"It's not," the crazy woman said, her lips a thin line.

Sirius sighed and quickly got inside the warmth of his house. He watched with the corner of his eye as the woman unwrapped her scarf ( _how_ big _was that scarf?_ ), and took her beanie off. The static of the wool obviously was no friend of hers, making her curls jump as soon as they were free from their confines, creating a halo around her head. Sirius couldn't help the laughter that came from his chest. With her crazy hair, red cheeks, even redder nose and squared shoulders she looked adorable.

Wait, _adorable?_

She looked at him, with narrowed eyes.

"What is so funny, may I ask?" she asked. She looked like a bird trying to assert its dominance.

"Just-" Sirius began but stopped himself. He couldn't tell her she _looked_ funny. Women didn't like that, this one already had a disliking of him. "The situation. You know, you think my cat is yours-"

"That's because he is!" she said and stomped her foot.

 _She stomped her foot._

Sirius couldn't answer her after that. He was laughing, holding his belly and he just couldn't stop. She was a vision.

"Stop _laughing_ you insufferable man!"

He took few calming breaths and looked at her.

"Is insulting your host a new tradition?" he asked without any malice in his voice. He knew he was smiling at her. He couldn't help it. He liked her, for some unfathomable reason.

"Is laughing at your guest?" she asked putting her fists on her hips. Sirius eyed her stance head to toe and grinned.

"Maybe we can start our new traditions then, hm?" he asked with a wink. "Look, get inside the living room, yeah? There is a fireplace there. Reggie is probably already lying in front of it."

"His name is Crookshanks," she said as she walked towards the living room.

"And your name?" Sirius said following her.

She stopped and looked sheepish for a second. "Ah, right. I'm Hermione."

"What a mouthful," he said.

"Well, what's _your_ name then?"

"Sirius," he said giving her a toothy smile. Not many people caught on his name. _Serious?,_ they usually asked, _excuse me; I'm not sure I got it._

"Like the star?" she asked though, surprising him.

"Yes," he said, unable to hide that he was impressed.

"Interesting. So you named your cat after a star as well?"

Sirius shrugged. "Well, I'm a man of tradition."

Hermione didn't say anything to that because right then Regulus took her attention and she sat the nearest chair.

"Crookshanks, come here sweetie,"

Sirius chuckled inwardly. Regulus never came when called.

"He is not gonn-" he stopped because as he started to talk, his cat, the _traitor_ got up and jumped on to her lap. He cleared his throat not knowing what to say next. He wanted to avoid the conflict if he insisted that the cat whose name was going to change to Judas was not hers, so he did the safest thing he thought of.

"Do you want to drink something?" he showed the bottle of whiskey on his coffee table that stood next to his nearly empty glass. She looked at the bottle doubtfully, probably weighing how stupid would it be to drink whiskey in an unfamiliar place with a stranger. He quickly amended when he saw her expression. "I got tea. Or coffee..."

She smiled at him then, halting Sirius. Her eyes crinkled at the corners, it was such a contrast to her angry disposition it naturally unarmed him.

"I would like some coffee if that's not much trouble for you," she said. Sirius was sure he would do anything she asked at that moment, so he nodded.

"Not trouble at all, I'll be right back."

He quickly went to the kitchen. His heart beating too fast, and his throat had dried. _Get it together, Black,_ he mentally reprimanded himself. _You_ _are not a young man anymore. You are an_ adult _and she is just... She is too young for you anyway._

That she was. He was sure she couldn't be much older than his godson, which meant she was in her early twenties. Which meant she could be his daughter. No. Not his daughter. But she could be Remus' daughter, for fuck's sake.

He put some coffee to the machine and started it.

He was going to make her some coffee, allow her to get warm, convince her to leave his cat where he belonged and when the weather was better she was going to leave. They'd probably see each other in the market or walking around, and they'd nod each other hello and go to their own way. That was it. She was not going to stay, he was not going to flirt with her, and he was most definitely not going to shag her. _Ever._

"Nope," he mumbled.

"Excuse me?"

He jumped hearing her voice right behind him.

"Bloody hell, woman!" he said, embarrassed. She giggled at him.

"Sorry, I thought you'd hear me coming," she said, and she was still smiling, _damn it._ "I thought I'd offer help."

He shrugged and took two mugs from where he left them to dry.

"No need, it'll be ready in a bit."

She nodded and walked towards the fridge, eyeing a photograph of Crookshanks that he put up there with a magnet.

"I don't understand," she said. "This is Crookshanks."

Sirius sighed.

"Look, I have that cat for a year now, and..."

"A year?" she turned to him. "I've moved here a year ago. How did you adopt him?"

Sirius' brows furrowed.

"Ah, well... It was winter and he was out there without a collar..."

"He _always_ takes it off!" she exclaimed. Sirius looked at her for a second before continuing.

"And then I took him in. He seemed to like it with me, so... Well..." He shrugged.

"So, you didn't think to look if he had an owner or not?" she asked.

"Well, I didn't," Sirius said honestly. "I figured if he was out in the cold in dead of the winter his owner wouldn't care much."

And that did it. Her soft face immediately disappeared and the goddess of fire and anger had returned. _Does her hair look even wilder now?_

"I looked for him for _days!_ " she half-shouted. "I was sick with worry. I cried my eyes out, and just because you _didn't think I cared!"_

"Wait a minute! How is it my fault that you allowed your cat to run away?"

"He likes to go out!"

"Well, I know that!" Sirius returned angrily then looked at her surprised. "Wait, are you telling me, you and I... We both had the same cat, for a _year,_ and we didn't know the little bugger was living a double life?"

That stopped her from shouting at him, because he could see she was getting ready for that, her feet were in the same line with her shoulders, her fists had returned to her hips and her eyes were narrowed. It looked utterly ridiculous when her anger reeled back in and disappeared with a shocked expression that took its place.

"I, I..." she huffed a breath and started to laugh. It was a light sound that filled his kitchen and completely suppressed the sound of the coffee machine. Sirius joined her in silent laughs himself, as he was too afraid that his loud laughter would smother the sound of hers.

"That little shit." Sirius grinned. "No wonder he is so fat."

"Don't call my cat fat!" she said without real malice in her voice.

"He is my cat too, and I call him whatever I want."

"Well he was my cat for _seven_ years, I think I get to decide that!" she said snottily.

"Oh yeah, some owner you are, the cat runs away to be with me," Sirius said grinning. "Not that I blame him. I am clearly the more likeable one between us."

"Oh, that's right, I'm sure every cat would prefer you over any other," she said crossing her arms.

"Well, I don't know," Sirius grinned. "Want to find out, kitten?"

He immediately cursed inwardly after saying that. _No flirting, remember?_

But what could he do when she responded with a blush like that? How can he _not_ flirt with her while she avoided his eye, cleared her throat and reminded him that the coffee was ready? He certainly liked this little thing, and he _definitely_ wanted to find out what would she be like in bed. He was almost sure that she would be fun when she is angry -if he pushed the right buttons.

No.

No thinking of buttons and pushing them and...

No.

Instead, they found their way back to the living room and sat on two different chairs, a safe distance apart from each other. He chuckled when Hermione reprimanded their cat ( _theirs?_ ) in a bossy tone, telling him how _wrong_ he acted and that he should be ashamed of himself. It was one of the cutest scenes Sirius ever saw.

They talked about Regulus for a while, apparently, he always liked his freedom so Hermione was used to him disappearing, only worrying if he didn't show up for few days. After that, the conversation took off and Sirius, naturally, forgot about their age difference.

Sure, she was young, although not in an _'I'm at the beginning of my life and don't know what to do with myself yet,'_ way. Her youth was in the way she smiled and moved. She asked him questions after questions without a second thought about if it would be offending or not. She apologised when she felt like she crossed a boundary but Sirius could see it in her eye the apology was just a thing she had learned to say and she didn't really mean it, not enough to excuse him from answering, at least.

Sirius didn't mind it, for soon after they finished drinking their coffees, she agreed to join him for the bottle of whiskey he planned on enjoying tonight.

Her face turned red as she drank, and even though she held her composure, she began to talk way more than she had in the beginning.

She was very opinionated, and Sirius realised he _enjoyed_ listening to her rants or excited proclamations. Soon they both were tipsy enough to let go of their inhibitions and were sitting side by side, Regulus long forgotten as he snored happily front of the fire.

"Tell me something, kitten," Sirius asked her and she softly laughed at his way of addressing her, putting a grin on Sirius' face. "How much control do you have right now over your actions?"

Hermione smiled beautifully at that.

"Enough to consent if you wanted to kiss me," she said primly, and Sirius held his breath. "But enough to know if we did anything further than that I would convince myself that was a bad idea the next day. Not because I don't want to, but I would think you don't really like me and that I only slept with you because I'm drunk, so I-"

Sirius leaned and kissed her to stop her ramblings.

No.

Sirius leaned and kissed her because he wanted to for hours and she looked so kissable as she rambled her thoughts away. He covered her lips with his and opened her mouth to him pulling her half onto his lap. She sighed and put her arms around him and gave his tongue admission so he could taste her properly.

Soon enough, she straddled him and pushed her core downwards in circular movements right on his hardness, making him breathe into her mouth. He had to stop. She had said _only kissing,_ and only kissing was what they would do. He allowed her to move on his lap for a while then held her hips firmly.

"Watch out, kitten," he said and bit her neck playfully. "Kissing only. Rules are rules."

She groaned. "Rules are very important," she said in a breathy way then kissed him once more. She was demanding as she explored his mouth. She was no longer moving over him with her dangerous hips, but she was firmly pressing against him still. Sirius broke his mouth from hers and kissed her cheek with a helpless groan, and trailed with his lips over her neck and behind her ear.

"God, woman, stop," he whispered. "You are killing me."

That made her laugh and look at him.

"Sorry, but it's mutual you know," she grinned, and it was a wicked grin. Not innocent like her smile, but instead blood boiling. "I think you are the most beautiful man I've seen, and I really, really want to get to know you." She slid from his lap, standing before him. Sirius held her hips to stop her from going further away. He wanted her to sit back on his lap. "So I will give you my phone number, then leave. And if you want to date me, not just _shag me_ , mind you, you will call me tomorrow and ask me for a date. If you just want a shag though, I expect you to rather go to a pub."

Sirius' started to grin as she started to talk but that soon turned into a genuine smile.

"Deal."

* * *

 **I hope you'll like this little feel-good holiday spirit!**

 **Crookshanks is Regulus! Who'd have guessed?**

 **Please leave reviews; they are the best gifts!**

 **Synoir**


	2. SPRING

SPRING

The big orange mass of fur moved and two slits of eyes opened.

He had ignored the humans all day, he had chosen to sit before the window and sleep instead. Of course, he had called for the female living next door, loudly, to be sure she knew that she had to find a way to run away from her home so they can make kittens. Once that done he could return to hunting small animals again. He had also eaten, used his litter and cleaned himself. But his humans didn't see that. He was sure if you asked them they would say he didn't even move all day.

Although, maybe today they would not care, by the sound of things...

Humans had interesting mating habits. They ate together before and made those interesting sounds with their mouths. They also touched faces, though he wasn't sure _why_ they did that. He often came in between them in those times, mainly because he enjoyed the warmth of their bodies, but also because he was curious. He touched faces with humans and other cats time to time. But he was sure it was nothing like when humans touched faces. He had observed that it was a part of their mating ritual. But they always closed the door when they mated, and even though he still could hear their voices, he wasn't sure what they were doing to mate. It sounded very tiring, and he always wondered why it took so long.

Maybe the male needed to find the right place? He wasn't sure.

Were these sounds they were making a part of their mating ritual? It was the right time for kittens, so maybe the man had to assert his dominance. He sounded loud, and he was sure he'd find it intimidating if the male made those voices to him.

Crookshanks rose from his seat and watched the humans' behaviour. That didn't look like a mating ritual, and he would not stand for the female be threatened. The female was the first human to love him. Before her, he had lived in that horrible place, full of other animals. He never left the cage unless he attacked the humans of that place and ran. They always caught him and put him back to that cage. He hated there, but the female, when she was just a kitten herself, took him and pet him. Crookshanks had liked how respectful the human had been to him as she touched his fur. He would always protect her. He liked the male too, he always gave him extra food and even shared his own meal. But he was now yowling at his human, and Crookshanks wouldn't stand for it.

He jumped and quickly came in between them, taking out his claws. He attacked the male's legs making sure the always-changing second skin on the human was pierced. The male jumped and yelled with pain, but Crookshanks wasn't deterred.

He hissed, showing his teeth, so the human would learn that the female was under his protection.

* * *

"Friends don't buy friends flowers when they meet for lunch Hermione!" Sirius shouted. He shouted because he couldn't help himself. He was angry and Hermione was lying to him. She was lying.

Of course, although they were seeing each other for a while now they never talked about being exclusive. He didn't know why. He had _assumed_ they were not going to see other people. Hermione didn't seem to be interested in seeing other people, and they were dating, spending time in each other's homes. They shared a cat for fuck's sake.

But it wasn't that she had met with another man, or was it plural, Sirius wondered, was she hiding more people that she dated? Was she even capable of that?

It was that she was lying to him, even though he told her that he had _seen_ her in that café.

"You are being _ridiculous!_ " she yelled at him, frustrated.

Ridiculous? How dare she? Couldn't she see that she had hurt him? That he cared about her, and she didn't and that hurt him?

"I'm being ridiculous! Yeah, you know what, I am," he said, angry. He knew how distant he sounded. "Why don't you leave me and my ridiculousness alone then?"

She bit her lips and looked down. Was she feeling guilty? Sirius felt his heartbreak. Because guilty meant that he was right. He was right and she was at a date today. Guilty meant admission, and could he forgive that? Could he continue to see her? Should he? He swallowed and refused to look at her.

"Sirius. He is a friend. I know him since we were eleven," she said in a soothing tone. What was the meaning of _that_ tone then?

"Yeah, and you just went to a date with your childhood friend, good. You'll probably get married and be very happy," Sirius said bitterly.

He wasn't sure he wanted to hear her explanations. It was probably better to leave it as it is anyway. For how long would they continue anyway? He was forty-two years old, and did he manage to have any kind of long and healthy relationship? No. No, he didn't and why was he even considering trying after all? With a woman half his age? It was ridiculous. _I am being ridiculous. She is fucking right._

"Sirius Black, you listen to me!" she said. He looked at her feet, standing firmly on the ground. He knew that posture, he knew if he looked up at her body he would see that confident woman who knew when to take things into her own hands. Her hair would be wicked, he was sure, if he looked up. If he looked up he'd want to kiss her, and never let her go. But that was selfish. There was a young man buying her flowers. A man who wasn't old, who didn't have wrinkles and hair turning white. A man who didn't feel the ache of the prior night's activities in his bones next day. She had made him forget about that, about how unfair this whole farce of a relationship was. But it was unfair, and...

Had he ever bought her flowers?

"No," he said, keeping his voice calm but he couldn't keep that up. He felt his voice rising as he spoke. "You don't get it. It's not that you have dated Hermione! That's a problem I can get over if we fucking talk about it. Just stop lying to me!"

He felt a stinging pain on his left leg then and he yelped, looking down he saw Cr- _Regulus_ looking at him and hissing. _So you picked your side, friend,_ he couldn't help but think. He took a deep breath and intended to continue talking, shouting... Making sure she heard him. He wasn't sure what he'd tell her. Would he tell her to leave, would they try to work it out, would he talk about his insecurities?

He wasn't sure what to say, but he knew he had a lot to say.

But she was quicker. Regulus gave her the distraction needed and just like that, Hermione was in his personal space, filling the air surrounding him with her smell and presence.

"His name is Neville and he is a florist," she said looking into his eyes. Her posture was gone, she didn't look angry. She looked... She looked scared. "He grows flowers. He brings me flowers because I like them and can't grow them myself. We ate lunch, and we talked about- I told him about you Sirius. I told him that I met a man, and I told him about how much I care about that man. Sirius, I swear to you, I'm not lying."

Her eyes looked glassy and _beautiful_. Like a Tiger's Eye dropped into still water. He immediately felt guilty for making her sad, but...

"He could be better for you..." he said.

A stupid thing to say, especially if they really have nothing romantic between them. And he believed her. He believed that she wasn't lying, was it ever about that? Or was it about him being not good enough? He knew what he was feeling for her even before he thought about it. That feeling he got when he first saw her smile never left. It grew, and it made him feel happy in a new way. He wanted to wake up every day and hear her voice. See her even if it was just for a kiss. She deserved better, though, he knew. He wasn't sure what better was, maybe it was her freedom to go out and date with as many people as she can like he did when he was her age. Have sex with different people, flirt with men in clubs, maybe experiment and be with few women... Maybe she should find a young man that she can grow old with instead of watching _him_ grow old. He didn't know what was best for her, but he knew that it wasn't him.

"No," she said though. "You are better for me. I-"

She stopped talking and looked down. But he knew what she was about to say. He knew because the moment that first sound of _'I'_ his heart started to beat fast and his bones started to burn.

"I'm selfish to want you all to myself," he said touching her shoulder, caressing it, letting his hand follow the trail to her elbow.

"I want you all to myself too, is that selfish?" she asked.

Sirius took a deep breath. He would have to say it. He knew he shouldn't, he knew that he should ignore what he wanted. Even ignore what _she_ wanted. He knew that option existed, but sort of in a way that it belonged to another dimension. He had to try, for once. Only once.

"I'm talking about being... _together._ Not dating, not being your boyfriend. I'm too old to be a _boyfriend._ "

She smiled, her eyes shining in a better way. _Not sad anymore,_ he thought. _That's_ _good._ Her laugh was silent and she leaned her body against his. He hugged her close to himself, inhaling her scent. She smelled like spring, fresh and flowery. It was a distinct smell, a mix of lavender shampoo and her perfume. Familiar, calming and sexy.

"Be mine," he said.

"I already am," she said.

"And then, remain so," he whispered into her ear then kissed right below it.

"I will."

* * *

Humans definitely had interesting mating rituals.

He was sure they were fighting before he intervened, and then they had started to touch their faces again, ignoring him. Like he didn't even exist. He didn't like being ignored but his interference had worked and they had stopped fighting. He wasn't sure why, but he was pleased. He liked the humans and he wanted to keep both of them. He liked them sharing meals and warmth with each other. He liked that they sat on the garden on sunny days and pet him. If one wanted to go somewhere they would just put him on to the lap of the other, and it was a good life.

He knew they would be good for him when they had met. He missed sleeping in the bed with the female, but he could live with the absence of that he supposed. As long as they continued to pet him the same time like they did when looking into that bright box with prey sized humans trapped inside.

He could live with that, even though they never wanted him near when they touched faces.

* * *

"So... You have a girlfriend?"

Sirius looked at his friend and groaned. "James talked?"

They were putting up a table in the small garden in the back for the Sunday brunch. Of course, calling that a brunch was Lily's idea. It was a code word for drinking from noon to God-Knows-When while stuffing their faces with food.

Remus had returned from his travels to South America where he shot photographs for a wildlife magazine, and they didn't even need to discuss that the Sunday would be his welcome home party. It had been a year since the four of them, _The Marauders,_ as they called each other when they were in high school, got together.

Of course it wouldn't be just four of them. It hadn't been just four of them for a long time. James was married for twenty-two years, even though Lily was as good as a Marauder herself, Remus also had invited his assistant and Sirius had Hermione. Peter was alone because of the nasty divorce he was going through, but it wasn't something that would bother any of them. Sirius missed Peter's ex-wife Cassie, but she was staying away from get-togethers like that and he couldn't blame her for it.

"Yeah, he said she was young," Remus said, looking at him pointedly.

"Hah!" Sirius exclaimed. "That can't be the important thing about what he said. He adores her."

"James is a romantic and he wants to see you happy," Remus said shrugging as he pulled two chairs to place them by the table. "I, on the other hand, have enough wit to question whether you really are happy, or you are going through a mid-life crisis."

Sirius grinned. "If this is a mid-life crisis, I don't think I ever want it to be over."

"You are sure she isn't after..." Remus coughed, interrupting himself. Sirius knew what he was about to ask though, and Remus could be a little reserved about confronting people on sensitive matters, not that it stopped him like it used to, but Sirius still felt a little angry on Hermione's behalf.

"Don't you fucking say that," he turned to Remus. He knew his grin has left without a trace that it ever was there.

"You can't blame me for asking. She is the same age as Harry!"

"She doesn't even know!" Sirius said loudly. He calmed himself as he continued. "Not that I'm hiding, but Remus, don't talk about her as if she is some sort of gold-digger! At least reserve your judgment for after you meet her, eh?"

"Right, you are right," Remus looked at him with apology in his eyes. "So you like her."

"I love her."

"Does she know?" Remus asked.

Sirius shrugged, _she knows,_ he thought but he knew that didn't count. He had to say it. She needed to hear it. One day.

"She will."

* * *

Humans ate so much. Especially when they had other humans allowed into their territory.

It was another interesting ritual to observe. He assumed it was like marking their borders. Something about the amount of food and drinks put out showing how much the territory belonged to them, perhaps. During those rituals, he got to watch the humans very closely, for they completely forgot about his existence as they drank those foul smelling things, until such time that for a short while they wanted to pet him insistently but by then their breaths would stink and this time it would be he that ignored them. He didn't particularly enjoy having so many humans around. But they left the garden door open, so he could lie on the grass and enjoy the sun.

And hunt those annoying flying things. Nothing decent would fly.

* * *

"It is very beautiful, isn't it?" an ethereal voice came behind Sirius making him jump.

"Uh, sorry?" he looked at the newcomer. He didn't know her, so she would be Remus' assistant.

"Oh, no need for that," the young woman said, and looked up towards his eyes, but she wasn't really focusing on his face. No, it looked like she was looking _right behind him._

"No need for what?" he asked confused. She met his eyes for a second then and smiled, about to say something, but Remus' voice interrupted her.

"Oh, Luna, you're here."

"Yes, I think I am," she said, sounding like she was millions of miles away. "I noticed the front door was open. Every sort of thing can come from there, you know, although I think it is a lucky thing in this place."

Sirius looked and saw Remus was as confused as he was.

"Right," his friend said, was he... _Blushing?_

Luna, apparently her name was, just walked and sat on the grass, next to Crook- Regulus.

" _That_ is your assistant?" Sirius asked his friend whispering.

"Yeah," Remus said with a shrug and that was when Lily dragged James with him, probably sensing gossip.

Sirius' eyes looked for Hermione who was talking with Peter. He grinned at her prim and proper posture. She was being very polite, which meant she wasn't particularly interested in the conversation. Hermione had told him that she used to be perceived as rude, always saying her mind, so she needed to learn how to be polite when she met people. Something she didn't feel the need to do when she first met Sirius. He liked the idea that he met the real Hermione right then.

"Ohh... Rem, look at our Siri, all grown up and in love," Lily mocked him. Sirius laughed but didn't give her response, _you can do better than that to fool me into confessing Lils,_ and turned to Remus.

"So, this _Luna,_ " he said to him in a suggestive tone. "Is she a _good_ assistant?"

Remus groaned and drank from his beer bottle, undoubtedly knowing what the conversation was going to lead to.

"Yes, she is."

Lily snorted at that and all eyes turned to her. She shrugged unapologetically.

"I really doubt that," she said while James was shaking his head amused.

"No, no she really is," Remus said.

"We saw her portfolio, Remus," James said.

"Yeah, I googled her when you mentioned she was coming over here," Lily said. "All of her pictures... Are blurry and weird."

"She is artistic," Remus said in a defensive voice that made Sirius bark out a laugh.

"Never mind she seems completely barmy?" Sirius asked his friend.

"You just met her!"

James chuckled. "I just overheard her introducing herself to the cat," he said. "She is barmy."

"She is _eccentric_ , I admit. But..."

"Mate," James cut him off. "Do you fancy her?"

"What? No!" Remus turned beet red like he always did when they teased him.

"Shit! You do!" Sirius goaded. He didn't know if Remus did fancy the weird blonde that preferred cats over humans or not, but he would never miss a chance to tease him.

"Look, I really mean she is a good assistant alright?" Remus explained not catching on that he was being teased. "And no one else is hiring her because she is a little weird and says weird things. But she _never_ complains, and she isn't afraid of anything, she is at home in _anywhere_ , which is a good thing when you are in a strange continent, and I do _not_ fancy her. I spent a year with her travelling. I would _know_ if I fancied her."

"Right, you definitely do not fancy her," James said wiggling his eyebrows.

"Not at all," Lily added with a mock solemnity.

"Of course not," Sirius said slapping his shoulder.

Remus groaned again, almost like a petulant child, and drank his beer.

"Fucking children," he was mumbling.

* * *

Remus loved being back home. He was lucky that he came back in spring. His friends were happy, laughing and drinking. The weather was lovely. It was a great day to shoot some photographs, but he did leave his camera at home. He watched Luna as she took pictures with her disposable, and Hermione and Sirius calling their cat, that they somehow had joint custody on, to see who would it choose.

"Crookshanks, love, come here," Hermione was cooing in a velvety voice while Sirius was saying: "Reggie, come here, look I got a piece of bacon."

"Typical, Sirius bribing the cat to win," Peter said to Remus.

Remus chuckled. "I'm not saying he is a cheater, but..."

"I really think they should decide what to call their cat," Peter said, laughter in his voice.

"If you called him with his real name, maybe it'd work better than the bacon," Hermione was saying to Sirius.

"Love, he doesn't care what his name is. He _cares_ a lot about bacon."

"Right now he cares about that poor butterfly," Peter chimed.

"Just use his real name!" Hermione said, her face red thanks to the vodka martini she was sipping.

"I am! Regulus is a much better name anyway," Sirius said.

"He was my cat _first_ , I decide what his name is."

"You always come back to _that_ argument," Sirius said to her then turned to the cat. "Regulus, tell her! Tell the crazy woman what your name is and you prefer me over her anyway,"

"Who are you calling crazy? I'm not the one who is telling a cat to start talking!"

"God, they really are good together," Remus said, surprised, still watching this new addition to their close group. Sirius Black had a woman on his side.

"I know," he heard Lily whisper next to him.

"Cats know best," Luna said taking out her camera and capturing right when Sirius leaned and kissed Hermione, as if she knew he was going to kiss her before it even happened.

It was good to be back home. Everyone was happy, the air smelled beautiful, the sun was shining...

"Oh, hell!" Remus heard James over the sound of the thunder. The cat was first to run inside as they tried to save as much as they can before everything got soaked in rain.

* * *

 **Hello again!**

 **Writing spring while it is -5 Celsius outside and everything is covered in snow... And I loved it. This is a bit longer than the first chapter but it can't be helped.**

 **I don't know what prompted me to write Crookshank's PoV, but it was so fun, I stuck with it.**

 **I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as much as you did the first.**

 **Thank you for your lovely reviews (they are like diamonds for me: Reviews are a girl's best friend).**


	3. SUMMER

SUMMER

Sirius couldn't breathe and his eyes wouldn't open. Something was pressing his throat and face. Something heavy... Something soft... He opened his mouth for a gasp of air and all he got was fur.

 _Fur?_

"Fuck off, Crookshanks," he groaned sleepily pushing the cat away from his face. The cat allowed it, but only a little, and settled on his chest. He could live with that. Cat on chest was okay. Cat on face was bad. Sleep was good.

"What?" he heard the sleepy voice of Hermione ask.

"Go back to sleep love, Reggie was bugging me," Sirius said.

"No, no, no..." her voice sounded much less sleepy now. "What _did you say?"_

"Just told him to fuck off," he answered and reached under the thin covers to hold his lover a little closer, just a little bit, not too much. It was too fucking hot for too much.

"You called him _Crookshanks!"_ Hermione squealed and jumped up, switching to a sitting position in bed making Sirius groan. "I win!"

"Love, just lie back down, will you?" Sirius asked but he knew when Hermione got like this going back to sleep was not an option.

"No! Oh no, Mr Black. I win," she leaned and kissed his cheek. Sirius sighed and looked at her. Sun was creeping inside, creating stripes of shadows on the bed and on her face. The light was a warm yellow and turned her dark skin a beautiful caramel colour. Her eyes were shining with happiness and her smile was big and bright.

"Yeah, fine, you win," he said and somehow her smile got even brighter.

"Yes!" she exclaimed again and kissed him. "Say it again."

Sirius chuckled and looked at Crookshanks, who had ignored his earlier order and did not, in fact, fuck off.

"Fuck off, Crookshanks," he said in mock seriousness, the cat ignored him of course, but Hermione squealed again and kissed him one more time. "How can a hideous name like that make you want to kiss me, I have no idea."

Hermione just sighed happily. "I like winning."

Sirius laughed and pushed Crookshanks off his chest, and this time cat jumped off of him. Sirius pulled Hermione, entrapping her between his legs and arms.

"Yeah?" he asked playfully. "Who is winning now?"

The response to his challenge was instant. She immediately tried to push him off of her, and as he leaned in for a sloppy kiss she started to turn her head, sucking her lips into her mouth to hide them from him. He ignored it and left big, wet kisses all over her face. Hermione was soon taken over by silent chuckles, her face turning red and chest rising and falling. It was perfect timing for tickling her.

"No!" she shouted when Sirius' fingers found a particularly ticklish spot. "Please! Stop!"

Sirius was undeterred. He continued tickling the spot right above her waist, ignoring her objections mixed with laughter. He knew he was heavy on her and that was making it harder for her to retaliate. Hermione tried to turn her back to crawl from under him, her feet hitting his legs in involuntary kicks. Sirius let her go just a little bit and then pulled her back towards him, lying on top of her using all of his weight. When his hands stopped tickling and his lips touched the sensitive spot right under her ear in a soft kiss she stopped fighting. A low moan escaped from her lips, almost impossible to hear.

"I win," he whispered into her ear. She laughed wickedly and pushed her bum upwards, a firm movement that made Sirius groan.

"You wish," she said breathily.

Sirius laughed, pressing his body on her with intent and nibbled her earlobe.

"Wanna see who ends up begging, pretty thing?"

* * *

"This is where your godson's birthday is?" Hermione asked in a small voice looking at the _mansion_ that was revealed when they passed the gates with Sirius' motorcycle.

"Yes," Sirius said as he drove his bike towards the house. "This is where his boyfriend lives."

He pulled the bike next to an Aston Martin that was so bright that it would probably cause an accident and waited for Hermione to hop off before he did the same. Hermione took her pastel blue helmet off her head, a gift from Sirius, and her eyes examined the exterior of the building that was too big for only one family to live at.

"Are you sure we are dressed properly for this?" she asked, gesturing towards her tight jeans and flats. Sirius took his helmet off, grinned at her like a naughty child and shook his hair, combing his fingers through them. After dropping the both of their helmets on the motorbike, he put his arm around her shoulders.

"I have no idea, love," he said starting to walk and taking her with him.

"Sirius!" Hermione hissed, feeling slightly panicked.

"Hermione?" he asked sweetly.

"I swear if it's a formal event I'm going to be _very_ cross with you!"

"Oh, I can only hope," Sirius said, his grin still intact.

"Do you want me to be embarrassed?"

"No, but I do _love_ to make you forgive me."

Hermione huffed and crossed her arms, and started to bite her lips only to stop at once when she realised it. It was a nasty habit of hers, but she couldn't help it when she was nervous! She didn't like to feel like she was the odd one out and looking at the grand _house_ and how far the front door was from where they parked the bike, she already did. If women in there were in cocktail dresses... _Oh God, I could have gotten my hair done!_ She subconsciously touched her hair, hoping that they did not look _too horrible_ after the journey with the motorbike and that stuffy helmet. She looked at Sirius who winked at her with a smile and rang the bell, and she felt her panic grow like an ocean wave.

"My hair!" Hermione squeaked in a tiny voice. Sirius looked at her with a single raised eyebrow, and then suddenly his hands were on her hair, his fingers buried in her curls and he was kissing her. It wasn't an innocent, fleeting kiss either. It was him claiming her mouth, sucking, licking, biting. He was swallowing her breaths and exhaling it from his nose. He collected a handful of hair inside his fist, somehow managing not to pull them painfully. Hermione knew this would cause her hair to look even worse, but this would be a different sort of worse. She liked that kind of worse. She didn't even care about where she was and when one of Sirius' hands travelled down to squeeze her arse she moaned _loudly._

Not surprisingly, that was the moment the door opened.

Hermione jumped apart from Sirius, but as usual, her man was perfectly calm as if they weren't just snogging like a pair of teenagers. Hermione looked at his smug look with the corner of her eye and decided to ignore it. Sirius exchanged pleasantries with the butler, _a butler,_ as if the latter man didn't see anything. She knew she was blushing and didn't know what to do or say but allow Sirius to pull her inside.

Sirius obviously knew where he was going.

His steps were confident and the hand holding hers was firm. It was a strangely re-assuring feeling that she started to get used to. He looked rather handsome with his black jeans and grey t-shirt, neither garment was too tight or too loose, both fit him just _perfectly_. She liked that in a man. Especially when that man was Sirius. He looked like he belonged to where he was, even in this giant mansion.

Hermione wasn't sure what a man like him really found in her. She wasn't ugly and she knew she could be even considered beautiful. It wasn't that. It was that she often didn't know how to act, how to dress well. And Sirius, well, he did. He did know how to act, how to carry himself, which smile would make people like him, which one would annoy them. While her hair was always a complete mess, his fell down beautifully, even if he just was woken up. He had the physique of a man that settled to his body. He could have any woman he wanted. Sometimes she would just look at him and wonder: _Why?_

Sirius looked at her questioningly as they walked, and Hermione just smiled at him, hoping he wouldn't catch up on her insecurities. She wasn't a woman to let her insecurities lead her life, and Sirius had a way with her that just made her forget about them anyway. But now in this unfamiliar place, in attire she was sure she'd be underdressed, they just seemed to be fighting to remain in the forefront of her mind.

"You alright, love?" he asked her.

"Yes," she said nodding and looking at her feet. She _was_ feeling okay, but also a little out of her comfort zone. "You know where you are going, right?"

"Just here," he said and then he pulled her towards an alcove where a portrait of a blond man was hung.

"Sirius!" she laughed when he gently pushed her back towards the wall.

"Anything wrong?" he cut her off before she started to say anything. It wasn't his _we are going to make_ out voice. It was his _let's talk a bit_ voice. Hermione faltered. How did he know?

How did he always know?

"I –No, Sirius, everything is fine," she said.

"Alright, so what's got you worried love? Is it this place that these obnoxious arseholes call home?"

"Yeah," Hermione said, suddenly laughing. "I mean... I've never been in a place like this. It feels like I'm sneaking around in a museum."

"Yeah, I know. They _were_ offered to open it up for tourists," Sirius said grinning. "Malfoy declined. He can't stand the idea of _normal_ people."

"Ah," Hermione said, suddenly self-conscious. "I am one of those _normal people._ "

"So am I. So is Harry, and all the guests inside. You know the boys and Lily will be there." Sirius held one of her curls and tucked it behind her hair. It didn't stay there. "Is that what got you so worried?"

"I just wished you'd warn me, that's all..." Hermione mumbled. She sounded like a spoiled child to her ears. "I'd go to a hair salon, I don't know. I'd wear something other than jeans. A dress, maybe... Oh, I'm being childish! Let's go."

She tried to move from the alcove but Sirius pulled her back to his chest.

"You look edible. I would ravish you right here and now," he whispered into her ear. "Your hair looks like you've been properly snogged, which makes me happy since there are lots of young men in there and they will want you for themselves. Need I remind you that you are my girl?"

Hermione shivered. Sirius rarely showed his possessive side, she could recall the memory of each time easily and they never failed to make her knees go weak. It was the way he did it. It wasn't out of a desire to control her. Instead, it made her feel cared. Like if she would let herself fall and he would be holding her.

"No, Sirius," she said in a whisper.

"Good. I want you to remember that inside, I want you to think of me when someone looks at you," he was still holding her, whispering in her ear. "I want you to think of me if someone offers you a drink, I want you to think of me if someone you don't know comes near you, I want you to think of me if you feel good and I want you to think of me when you feel bad. Alright?"

Hermione nodded silently, her heart pounding in her chest. But she was no longer worried. She felt safe.

"Good," Sirius said and kissed her lips slowly. Still, when they parted Hermione was out of breath.

"Thank you, Sirius," she said, looking at him.

He smiled at her.

"Between you and I," he said. "I hate this place too."

* * *

"Thank goodness, you are here!" Lily exclaimed when she saw Hermione, reaching for her hand and using it to pull her from Sirius. "Let's go get drinks!"

Lily started to walk and Hermione didn't have a choice put to follow, for the woman didn't let her wrist free. When she looked behind she saw the four men grinning at them. She waved her hand towards Remus, James and Peter in a way of saying hello, then turned to the woman who was manhandling her.

"Don't tell me you are bored Lily," Hermione looked around. There was a fully stocked bar, and the garden looked beautiful. The music was loud enough to dance, but not enough to make it impossible to talk. It was a beautiful party, and Sirius was right, Hermione noted. Everyone was dressed casually. She had worried for no reason at all.

"Oh no," Lily sighed. "But the boys bought Harry something they shouldn't have and I'm angry at them."

"Oh..." Hermione said flushing. She knew what they bought. Suddenly worried that Lily was going to be angry with her as well, she asked in a tiny voice: "What did they buy?"

"A motorcycle!" Lily exclaimed. Then the auburn-haired woman looked at her, her eyes narrowing. Hermione gulped. "You _knew._ "

"I didn't know _you_ didn't!" she said defensively and Lily sighed once again, this time loudly.

"They are going to kill me with worry, you know. Harry is reckless as it is. I don't know what he'll do with a _motorcycle._ "

"I'm sure he'll be safe," Hermione said.

"You don't know him, 'Mione," Lily answered shaking her head. "My son doesn't know the meaning of the word _safe_."

"I'm sure it's not _that_ bad," Hermione said.

"I should have known though," Lily continued ignoring Hermione. "That the offspring of James Potter would be even worse than him."

Hermione laughed at that, she had to agree. James loved to cause trouble.

"Not to forget he is probably stubborn-"

"Exactly!" Lily exclaimed cutting Hermione off.

"-like his mother too," Hermione finished grinning and Lily blushed lightly.

"Well..." Lily suddenly turned towards Hermione with mischief in her eye. "You know Sirius is not that different."

"Hm?" Hermione asked Lily, not understanding why her heart started to beat so fast.

"From James, I mean. He likes trouble, maybe even more so," Lily said. She looked positively gleeful. "His children would be _riots_. Beautiful, too."

"Oh," Hermione didn't know what to say. She remembered Sirius' words: _think of me..._ She wasn't sure that was the right direction for her mind to wonder this time though.

"I mean if you guys would have children," Lily continued relentlessly. "Can you imagine?"

"Lily!" Hermione tried to stop the woman from continuing.

"Smart, bouncing curls, burning neighbours' garbage cans..."

"Honestly, Lily! Isn't it bit early for you to try to convince me to be on the family way?"

Lily started to laugh holding her belly.

"Oh, but it's too easy to rile you up! Sirius is right."

"Lovely, is _that_ what you guys talk about me?"

"Hmm," Lily acknowledged with a grin. "That and _did you know they decided to fund Hermione's research,_ or _did you know Hermione was the top of her class for_ all _of her academic life..._ "

Hermione looked at Lily with shock.

"Really?" she asked.

Lily smiled at her, a mixture of understanding and familial love.

"Yes, Hermione," she said. "He is very proud of you."

"I didn't know that," Hermione said.

"What?" Lily asked, still smiling. "Doesn't he say that you?"

"He does... It's just..."

"Now you know he means it?" Lily offered.

"Yes."

"Oh Hermione, you have no idea..."

* * *

Hermione was having fun. She had chatted with Lily all night. She felt slightly tipsy. The party was really well thought out. There were areas to sit and chat scattered in the garden with lots of empty space for people to dance –or to fool around. He had met Harry and his boyfriend Draco, danced with Sirius... She had had fun.

With her drink in her hand, Hermione watched as two identical redheads put something on the ground and yelled.

"FIRE IN THE HALL!"

She couldn't help but laugh as people jumped to the sound of the loud bang and whizzing sparkles that burst out of it.

"Hello," a voice said, and Hermione realised she was next to a very tall boy with also red hair, and _lots of freckles._ He was a bit too close for Hermione's liking, but not close enough to be fashionably disturbed by it.

 _Think of me..._

"Hello," she said carefully.

"I'm Ron," he said.

"Hermione," she returned. Ron nodded.

"I..." he started and Hermione looked at him, the boy was blushing. It was rather endearing. "Would you like to dance?"

"No, I'm fine," Hermione said, smiling to show him that she wasn't disturbed by the question. He didn't seem like a bad guy.

"Alright..." he said, then clearing his throat he asked: "So how do you know Harry?"

"Oh, I just met him today."

"Yeah? A friend of Mal- Draco's then?"

"No," Hermione began but then she felt a something heavy land on her shoulders and a familiar smell filled her nostrils.

"She is with me, Weasley," Sirius said coolly, although Hermione could hear the teasing undertone. She wasn't sure the redhead did, by the colour of his face. "Paws off."

"Sirius! Uh..." He looked at Hermione, then back to Sirius, like trying to solve a puzzle. "Oh. Well... I was just- You know..."

Sirius started to laugh.

"I know, kid," he said lightly, relaxing his stance a little. Hermione felt herself relax alongside him. "I just saw Ginny a few minutes ago. How are your brothers?"

"Which one?" Ron asked rolling his eyes, making Sirius laugh again. "I should go, find Harry and save him from Draco's friends. They are probably trying to corrupt him with another _brilliant_ idea involving private jets and a remote island."

"Harry is not impressed by those things, you know," Sirius said, Hermione noticed that he cared for the boy –almost a brotherly concern.

"Yeah, I know. That's why it's _saving_ ," Ron said with an annoyed air that didn't feel real. He turned to Hermione and suddenly he looked more mature than he did before. "Nice to meet you, Hermione."

Hermione shook his hand echoing the sentiment and turned to Sirius as the redhead walked away from them.

"You are having fun?" she asked snuggling to him.

"Yes, you?" he asked.

"Hmm... Lily and I drank a _tad_ more than we should have," she murmured to him, inhaling his scent.

"A tad you say?" Sirius asked wrapping his arms around her. She liked that. His arms. She liked his arms.

"I like your arms."

Sirius started to chuckle.

"Don't laugh," she protested. Then looked up at him. "I was really afraid that he was going to try to flirt with me."

"Ron is a good kid, he wouldn't do anything to bother you."

"But I hate when guys flirt with me!" Hermione said.

"You do?" Sirius raised one of his eyebrows and Hermione started to look at it. It was a beautiful eyebrow.

"Now I do," she said separating herself from him just a little. "There is this constant feeling of _I need to tell them I'm taken,_ but it always seems it's out of turn. How do you say 'I'm telling you I'm seeing someone because you look at me a bit too much?'"

"Hmmm..." Sirius pulled her to him once again. "You know I need their names and addresses now, right?"

"I certainly don't know their addresses," she said, wrinkling her nose. "That would be leading them on."

"Fair enough. I have ways to find people just by their names."

Hermione snorted inelegantly.

"You are horrible."

"You love me," he said chuckling.

"Yeah, I do," Hermione sighed. Then she froze. _Shit._ She inched closer to Sirius and pressed her face to his chest to hide her red face, and hoping, praying to every deity she ever read about, that he would ignore what she said.

 _He said it first,_ her logical mind said. _He was teasing you,_ the panicked half of her mind responded.

"Good," she felt Sirius' lips just above her ear. "'Cause I love you, too."

She looked up and met Sirius' eyes. His grey eyes were watching her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself upwards to kiss him. She felt a little dizzy and clumsy because of the alcohol, but she knew that she wouldn't fall. He was holding her.

* * *

 **I know this is a bit late! Sorry about that.**

 **So only one chapter to go after this one. I feel** ** _slightly_** **guilty about not having enough of Crookshanks in this one, but it couldn't be helped. But this time it's Hermione's PoV; it was high-time we see their relationship from her perspective. I hope you'll like it**

 **There is nothing more relaxing than writing a story just for the fluff!**

 **Let me know what you think in the reviews!**

 **Synoir**


	4. AUTUMN

_**Thanks to thornweed for beta−reading this chapter.**_

* * *

AUTUMN

Sirius moved towards Hermione and put his hands on her shaking shoulders. The rain was tapping on the window relentlessly, and his girl was holding back tears. He knew she was more angry than sad, but it did nothing to make him feel better.

"I'm so sorry Sirius," she said in a tiny voice. He put a kiss on where the neckline of her dress met with her skin, in hopes that it would be reassuring.

"You've got nothing to apologise for," he said meaning every word. She didn't need to apologise for she had done nothing wrong. "I can handle a little scrutiny from your parents, love. They worry about you and your future. I admit their method is a bit unsavoury but... They'll come around."

Hermione shook her head and took the apple pie she had put on the counter to cool. She had been trying to cook a perfect pie since she had heard her parents were coming to visit them from Australia. Hermione wasn't a good cook and was an even worse baker, but she was stubborn and the result was perfect like everything else she had put on her mind to achieve. Sirius hated that after all her hard work she had done for her parents' visit everything turned so gloomy.

On one hand, Sirius understood their concerns, he really did. He had the same concerns after all. Although his were for more selfish reasons, he couldn't blame her mother and father to want to talk to her about moving in with a man nineteen years her senior. He just didn't expect them to be so callous about their disapproval. He didn't want to think about how the rest of the two weeks of their planned visit would resume.

"They should at least try to be polite," Hermione said with an air of righteous indignation then she sighed dejectedly. "Can you grab the plates?"

Sirius left another kiss on her shoulder before doing as he was told and following Hermione to the dining room.

* * *

Sirius had left for work in the morning. After the disastrous dinner, they had decided she needed to talk to her parents alone, so Sirius claimed he needed to go the bar that he owned to check something.

"He doesn't even arrange a day off the first morning we are here?" Catherine Granger asked as she sat down on the living room sofa. Her father had gone for a walk as he did every Sunday morning after breakfast since she could remember, so she was alone with her mother now. She put down two mugs of tea on the coffee table and turned to her mother with a saccharine smile.

"He did actually, but I asked him to give us space so we can talk," she explained. Her mother sighed and nodded her head picking up the mug nearest to her.

"Very well," she said primly. "I don't approve of your relationship with him. Please don't ask me to pretend like I do."

"I don't ask you to approve Mum," Hermione said seriously. "I can't control your feelings. I expect you to be polite towards him in his own home. I expect you to respect the decisions I make for my own life. I honestly thought you would be opposed to it to a degree−"

"He is old enough to be your father," her mother interrupted her.

"But he is not my father," Hermione returned, just as fast.

"Darling, you can't hope to have the same expectations in life as him. You two are clearly very different people. What about your academic career? You had a perfectly good house and a life plan. And now you suddenly throw it all away for a man who has made very different choices than you in such a short time. That isn't like you."

Hermione had promised herself not to get agitated and start to shout, but suddenly that didn't seem possible to her. Still, she took a deep breath to calm herself.

"He is very supportive of my academic career," she said. "Didn't you see the study he made for me? That was his birthday gift to me, you know. Not chocolate and roses and a dinner outside. A study with wall-to-wall bookshelves. He cares for me. Yes, he didn't make the same decisions in life. And yes, he is much older than I. We know.

"But you see, that's why it's him. Because we talk about our worries and we work on them together. Because he respects my decisions on a level no one else does. He doesn't treat me like a little girl. He isn't with me because of, what was it that you so elegantly put, _A mid−life crisis._ "

Hermione stopped herself from talking more before she lost the control of her voice. She wrapped her cardigan more firmly around herself and glared at her mother. She gritted her teeth as her mother sighed one more time in a way that screamed _you are making a mistake, Hermione_. She could hear the unspoken words so clearly in her head she wanted to scream.

"You'll see," her mother said. "One day you'll realise you wasted your youth with an older man and you'll regret it."

"Until that day," Hermione began. "You will accept him. You don't have to like him, but Sirius and I have a serious relationship. So you either accept us or you won't be a part of our life. And I expect you to treat him with decorum in his own house too, while you are here."

"Hermione!" her mother exclaimed, clearly shocked. Hermione didn't blame her. She had been living in Australia for the last couple of years and no longer knew what kind of a woman Hermione had become.

"Alright," came the voice of her father behind them. She turned and looked at him. He must have returned from his walk and now was standing in the living room.

"Dad," she said and her father walked in and sat down on one of the chairs without even taking his coat off.

"I do not approve of it. But alright."

* * *

Maybe taking his girlfriend's parents, who had decided to dislike him, to a lunch without the buffer offered by the said girlfriend was not the wisest of decisions. But Sirius was not a child, hadn't been one for a long time, and he wouldn't take it sitting down when his peers tried to belittle him because of the decisions he had made in his private life. Even if those peers were the parents of one of those decisions.

The polite and strained conversation about the day and their plans could have been the only topics that they talked today. But Sirius hadn't invited them out when Hermione was at the university to talk about how good the weather was in Australia during this season.

"You know," he began as he took a sip from his ginger ale. "There is a great chance that I won't go anywhere."

The sudden change of topic was effective, he knew. It was one of the things that disarmed people and showed their immediate response. In this case, it was two pair of eyes looking at him in surprise that soon morphed into scowling. He wouldn't complain; that's why he took them out of the house. So they would be in a mutual territory.

"You should," Matthew Granger said. "You must know she deserves someone –"

"Younger?" Sirius questioned then he smirked. He knew his face must look predatory. It was an expression he had learned at a very young age. "Richer? Although I must admit that would be overly ambitious of you..."

"Excuse me?" Catherine's indignation was almost identical to Hermione's, yet it had the opposite effect on Sirius.

"I understand your worries," he said then. "But I don't care about them. I invited you here to tell you that I will do my best to remain a permanent part of Hermione's life. And I don't mean remaining friendly if this thing between us doesn't work. I mean that I will make it work."

* * *

Hermione drove her parents to the airport after a torturous fortnight spent with them in her new home. _Visiting for her birthday..._ What a crap excuse. They hadn't come to visit her for her birthday since they retired and moved to Australia. They usually would send her a plane ticket, and she would have to arrange her life accordingly to visit them. When they did the same this summer and Hermione told them she couldn't because she was moving in with her boyfriend they suddenly decided to make the trip themselves. She would have liked to think that it was because they wanted to see her. She should have known it was to come and convince her that her chosen partner was not good enough.

They didn't like Sirius. Which would be acceptable for her if they had actually made an effort to get to know him. It was worse since they were forced to spend fourteen horrible days in the same house.

Her mother hugged Hermione, and she returned the gesture stiffly.

"You know, you can come and visit us whenever you want," her mother said.

"Well, it would depend on Sirius' schedule, Mum."

Catherine Granger didn't like that answer, not that it surprised Hermione. "You could always come alone."

Hermione snorted. "Like you go abroad without each other," she said pointing at the space between her mother and father.

"Well, we are married, pumpkin," her father said unnecessarily.

Hermione stiffened her shoulders and looked at them. "Well, Sirius and I are as good as married. We live together, pay the bills together, and plan our life together." She shook her head. "And considering how rude you were towards him in his own house, I don't think I will be asking him to visit you in yours anytime soon."

"Are you cutting us out of your life, Hermione?" her mother asked with surprise and her father seemed angry.

"No." Hermione's answer was quick and loud. "Of course not. But I have different priorities, now. Mainly, him."

"Hermione, moving in with someone is not the same thing as being married."

Hermione took a deep breath. "It is for me."

* * *

Hermione took out her key and opened the door to her home, _their_ home. She was tired. Now that her parents were gone, she felt the loss of their disapproving presence like a ghost ache. She had apologised to Sirius and he never accepted it, and now she was at a loss on how to make him forgive her. She could have declined her parents when they wanted to visit, but she didn't know how, so Sirius had to listen to her parents' objections and their criticism of his life. He had to listen to them ask about her ex−boyfriend Mark and whether Hermione was still in contact with him, Mark was such a gentleman, after all, and no point in cutting ties because you had broken up. Or they would complain that motorcycles were too dangerous.

Or that whether he ever regretted his tattoos.

Why was he never married?

Oh, his parents were dead? Was it old age?

Hermione smiled remembering Sirius' answer. _"Father died because of Mother._ _She_ _died out of spite. I don't remember actually when... would have to check the date on the death certificates."_

Well, that certainly didn't make the Grangers love him more, but Hermione wasn't about the get angry with him because of that. At that point, Hermione wished Sirius retorted with sarcasm to everything they said. But instead, he had held his tongue so as not to increase the tension. She had later warned her mother that Sirius' family was a private and tense subject and she would appreciate them not bringing it up again. So whenever they were alone Catherine Granger lamented on the importance of family and having well-established roots.

So, yes, Hermione was tired. She wanted to open a bottle of wine, take a long bath and then, if she felt rejuvenated enough, probably shag Sirius loudly. She was also tired of keeping it silent. It was a good plan. She knew that Sirius would _appreciate_ the loud sex.

She wanted to skip the living room and climb the stairs toward the bedroom but stopped when she noticed the warm light that was coming from there. She pushed the French doors that divided the area and slowly walked into the room where Sirius was throwing wood into the fireplace, his face glowing as the flames moved in their confines. Crookshanks was right next to Sirius, undoubtedly enjoying the heat. He seemed unaware of Hermione's presence and she liked the small time frame that gave her to watch the man she loved. She noticed the wine bottle opened to let it breathe on the coffee table and the selection of dried fruits and cheese on a plate. She sighed contently. He knew her too well.

Sirius must have heard her sigh because he lifted his head and looked at her. He poked the fire one last time to place the wood properly and got up to walk towards her.

Hermione didn't move, instead, she let Sirius come to her, with steps unhesitating yet not fast. Like a man who knew where he was going, like a man who knew who he was going towards. Hermione's heart filled with familiarity and attraction towards him. He stood when he was in her personal space, and he belonged there like a limb of hers. His hands moved up and his palms pressed onto her arms, gently squeezing and climbing up towards her shoulders only to climb down again.

Her eyes teared up. How did her parents not see how much they belonged together? How easy it was for them to just be when they were together? Even fighting was easy with Sirius. It lacked the fear of being judged or misunderstood because all that he shouted and got angry and frustrated, he was there and he would hear her. It was easy to laugh with him because he wouldn't keep it down, he would reach the very peak of joy and take her with him. It was easy to make love to him because they hadn't stopped learning each other, and their curiosity was mingled with a passion that was born of physical attraction and wants they shared. She watched Sirius' every move like the man was a poem that decided papers were too confining and he broke free of them, and as sappy as that sounded Hermione didn't think she would ever get tired of reading it.

When Sirius' right hand reached up to her face to cup her cheek and his thumb moved right above her cheeks to take a teardrop Hermione realised she was crying. A second later she was enveloped in his arms, their bodies touching each other over Hermione's thick coat and his wool jumper and jeans, but it felt as if there were no restrictions at all. Familiar. He was familiar.

And he smelled like home.

"Sirius," she began raising her head to look at him and his arms squeezed her firmer in reassurance. She wanted to apologise for her parents' treatment of him, thank him for putting up with it. She wanted to say that he came first now, that she loved him and that he was a part of her; a permanent fixture that her parents would have to accept. She could probably talk about what she thought, what she wished for and what she felt. The words that came out of her though were different, and even though she hadn't planned for the words to be spoken she wasn't surprised when the question left her mouth and became a breath shared by the two of them.

"Will you marry me?"

* * *

Sirius' heart leapt.

Did he hear her right? Did she just ask what he thought she asked? He looked at her face, focusing on her eyes. There were no tears anymore, just the shine that was left from them. The tiredness had gone from her posture and instead, she had that stubborn stance that he loved so much, shoulders raised and chin up, like it was not a strain on her neck when she looked at his face but a natural posture. The decisiveness and a lack of fear that he found in her face warmed his heart. It wasn't a romantic uprising towards her family in search of rebellion, and how dare he think such things about Hermione, anyway? Did she ever say anything that she did not firmly believe in?

"When?" he asked then took a deep breath. "Yes. Hermione," he leant in and put a kiss on her lips, barely holding himself to not tremble. "I will marry you. Just say when."

She smiled at him and kissed him once again, rising on her toes and holding herself with arms placed on his shoulders. "Anytime."

Sirius nodded and grinned leaning to hoist her up in his arms and moved her to the sofa. He gently laid her there and followed her body with his. "I think autumn is a great season for a wedding."

Hermione's following laughter was a thing that should have been bottled for an eternity. The humankind surely would miss out on not hearing it over and over again. "I agree. October is my favourite month. And it's right between our birthdays too, very convenient."

He hummed in approval and kissed her cheek and then her ear. "James owns this great house north of here. It belonged to his parents. It's fancy and big enough for a small wedding."

Hermione sighed lightly, pleased and Sirius put an open-mouthed kiss right below her chin, a place he knew she liked. Sure enough, she let out a small moan. "I think I could find a nice dress by the time. Silver and midnight blue for the wedding colours, I was thinking."

Sirius chuckled. "Were you, now?"

Hermione shrugged. "No, but blue is my favourite colour and white is too boring."

Sirius made a sound to show her he agreed. "I like it. Chocolate for the wedding cake?"

"Of course," Hermione said immediately. "That place we discovered, Honeydukes? I love their chocolate cake."

Sirius moaned as he thought of the promise of that particular flavour and kissed her full on mouth to reward her for the amazing idea. "We should ask Luna to make the invitations. I have a feeling that she would make it weird enough to fit us both."

Hermione grinned as Sirius started to take off her coat. He struggled a little with the thick material and when he was done her hands wormed their way underneath his jumper. "Open bar?" she asked hesitantly and was surely considering the expense of such frivolous wishes.

"Oh, love, you know how to excite me," he said and settled between her legs and as if they were waiting for the cue they hugged his waist. "I think I can arrange that, yes. I'll ask Narcissa for a catering company for the food."

"Oh," Hermione said but Sirius couldn't be sure if that was a testimony to the closeness of their bodies or an agreement to his idea to let the Malfoys handle the food. "That would please the masses, I think."

"Would it please you?" he asked with a firm move of his hips that pressed onto her core.

"Yes... yes it would," was the content response from his woman.

Sirius grinned and kissed her again moving his body in sync with her heated responses, and finding a rhythm to remind her how good they were together. He watched her face as her eyes fluttered close, like a promise of things to come. The light from the fireplace was turning her wild hair that was around her head into a fiery halo and warming the lines of her face. "I love you."

Hermione hummed and pressed her chest firmly against his, arching towards him. "And I love you," she said and he kissed her with all his being.

And it was like magic.

 **THE END**

* * *

 _ **Thank you all who followed, reviewed and favourited this story. It means the world to me. You have been great.**_

 _ **I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**_

 _ **And remember: reviews are hot chocolate to my croissants. Cheese to my wine. Butter to my toasted bread.**_

 ** _If you didn't already check 'Toothpaste Kisses' by Calebski, you should. That story is a Sirimione masterpiece._**

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 _ **I wish you all happily ever afters.**_

 _ **Yours truly,**_

 _ **Synoir**_


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